The present invention relates to a method for metallizing the surface of carbon fiber reinforced plastic members by vapor-depositing a metal layer in a high vacuum, and effecting a glow treatment before the vapor deposition process.
Various types of vapor-deposition of substances onto a substrate are described in the publication entitled "New Trends in Materials Processing," published by the American Society for Metals, Metals Park, Ohio 44073 (1976), pages 200 et seq. According to this publication, vapor-deposition can be achieved by evaporation of the material to be vapor-deposited, by heating in a high vacuum, by ion-plating, or by sputtering.
In the informational publication entitled "Thermoplaste," in translation "Thermoplasts," Technical Binder by Bayer, Edition of Apr. 1, 1978, in paragraph 4.5.3, entitled, "Metallisieren von Durethan," in translation "Metallization of Durethan," the vapor-deposition of a metal layer in a high vacuum on molded pieces of the thermoplast Durethan is explained. (Durethan is a polyamide produced by Fa. Bayer, FRG). This publication discloses, inter alia, that the adhesion and quality of the vapor-deposited layer depends mainly on the adhesion of a primer or of preliminary and covering layers. But even if this pretreatment step is fully observed and a glow treatment is performed prior to the vapor deposition, adhesion of the vapor-deposited metal layer on the plastic surface is relatively poor.